Sophisticated power conversion systems continue to play a vital role supporting modern electronic systems of all manner and types. Some electronic systems contain multiple loads, each having its own particular demands in terms of current, voltage and quality. Accordingly, distributed power conversion systems have come into use to provide power to those electronic systems.
Distributed power conversion systems are characterized by a central converter and a DC power distribution bus coupled to the output of the central converter. Coupled to the DC power distribution bus and corresponding to various loads in the electronic system are a plurality of DC/DC converters, which may take the form of POL converters. (DC/DC converters may be isolated or non-isolated; POL converters are usually only non-isolated.) The DC/DC converters are designed to perform a final conversion of power from the DC power distribution bus to the particular loads with which they are associated.
DC/DC converters are commercially available in the form of standard and prepackaged modules having predefined input and output pins and an output voltage set, or “trim,” pin. The modules contain a power train and a control circuit that determines not only the output voltage, but the manner in which the power train responds to transient conditions that may occur as a result of fluctuations in either the power bus or load (often called the “transient response characteristics” of the module). Because the modules are standard and prepackaged, their control circuits are by necessity designed to have transient response characteristics suitable for accommodating a wide array of possible loads.
Unfortunately, transient response characteristics that may be acceptable for a variety of loads is frequently suboptimal for a particular load. As a consequence, the quality of the power and overall effectiveness of the system often suffer. Of course, one could design and deploy a custom DC/DC converter that is not a standard product but instead custom designed to a particular load with matched transient response characteristics, but that is a manifestly more expensive solution and therefore unacceptable for many cost-sensitive applications.
What is needed in the art is a way to adapt to a particular load the transient response characteristics of a commercially-available DC/DC converter module. More specifically, what is needed in the art is a way to change the transient response characteristics of a commercially-available standard DC/DC converter module without breaching the module, but instead keeping its package and external interface intact.